Hello all! Hope Blighty is treating you well as Spain is certainly doing a good job of looking after me!
Monday I had my first day of university. Bit of a let down, missed my first lecture due to not having the timetable. I only have one lecture course (Eléctronica Física) this term until I find a research project, which means I only have four hours a week. Hooray! Monday night was one of the french dude's birthdays and ended up being pretty hectic (those of you with access to facebook.com can see the photos on my profile). So I also missed my second day of uni here as well. Whoops.
So I finally attended my first lecture on Wednesday. I couldn't follow most of what the lecturer was saying but I could understand the projector slides perfectly which means in a fortnight when I am used to the speed of speech here I will hopefully be able to understand more easily. The topic is quite interesting and I am considering asking the lecturer if he can be the supervisor for my Masters project which I am supposed to be starting soon.
The one hour lecture was far too much hard work fo rme so I took a well earned stroll down the road to the fantastic Primera Playa de El Sardinero. My first time at the beach after being in Spain for a week, shameful. Had a good few hours of siesta on the powdery sand with the sun blazing down and the relaxing sound of the waves gently fizzing up and down the coast.
Thursday I had no courses so at about 3pm myself and some other brave explorers bought a return ticket to the Playa del Somo which is on the other side of Bahía de Santander. 15 minutes on the boat and 5 minute walk led us to a long, practically deserted beach with a surf shop a tenth of the cost of the one at the Sardinero. The idea was for us to rent some gear and go surfing, but the waves were tiny so we decided it wasn't worth the money and thus we just messed around in the sea and sunbathed a bit. I was quite looking forward to learning how to "surfear" but next time.
Today after my lecture I obtained the phone number of the Santander Rugby captain so I shall be giving him a ring this weekend to see if I can start training next Tuesday. The day at the beach made me realise how I need to join a sports club quick before I become chronically unfit.
Anyway I'm bored of this so time to shower and head down to the Plaza for the obligatory evening booze up.
MC
PS: It has come to my attention that the legendary coach Brimah at ICURFC is in hospital recovering from a brain aneurism. I've sent him a text sending my support but if anyone goes to visit can you give him regards for me as he might not have got the text. Thanks.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Monday, September 25, 2006
Spanish is Hard
You know all that rubbish about being good at Spanish? Well that was total rubbish. Today I had my first day in college and about 3 Spanish people tried speaking to me and I´m not joking, I couldn't understand a word. My writing and reading is fine, but in terms of speech I can´t process the information fast enough and so I end up sitting there with a blank face like a complete idiot. Next time I'm going to fake deafness or something to take the look of complete disgust off their faces.
So Thursday night was good, went out, few beers in some German girl's house with the rest of the Erasmus ensemble and then headed to Plaza Cañadió as usual for a few jars until 2am whence we moved to our first club. If you can call it that. All the clubs are tiny and play such rubbish like reggaeton music. It's not London, I can tell you that for sure.
Friday consisted of a tour around the musuem/replica of Las Cuevas de Altamira, where they found loads of prehistoric cave paintings. It was ok and it was pretty inspiring learning how they did the paintings and the context of their time period, but everyone was hungover as hell and not really interested. Well I say hungover, you don't get drunk here you just stay up til 6 or 7am so the hangover effect is purely down to sleep deprivation.
Saturday the new flatmate arrived, a 27 year old from the Czech Republic. Seems like a pretty sound bloke but he's been in the flat for a total of about 10 minutes since he arrived here because he´s dashing about everywhere. He did miss the induction week I suppose so he's had a lot to do.
Bought some footy boots, a rugby ball and a football today so I can finally get some sport action on and not have to feel constant longing to go to the park but not having the correct accutrements.
I'll be uploading some photos onto here this week so keep reading! Sorry for the short entry but I've got to get home and get changed for the evening's partying.
Ciao for now from Moo Cow
So Thursday night was good, went out, few beers in some German girl's house with the rest of the Erasmus ensemble and then headed to Plaza Cañadió as usual for a few jars until 2am whence we moved to our first club. If you can call it that. All the clubs are tiny and play such rubbish like reggaeton music. It's not London, I can tell you that for sure.
Friday consisted of a tour around the musuem/replica of Las Cuevas de Altamira, where they found loads of prehistoric cave paintings. It was ok and it was pretty inspiring learning how they did the paintings and the context of their time period, but everyone was hungover as hell and not really interested. Well I say hungover, you don't get drunk here you just stay up til 6 or 7am so the hangover effect is purely down to sleep deprivation.
Saturday the new flatmate arrived, a 27 year old from the Czech Republic. Seems like a pretty sound bloke but he's been in the flat for a total of about 10 minutes since he arrived here because he´s dashing about everywhere. He did miss the induction week I suppose so he's had a lot to do.
Bought some footy boots, a rugby ball and a football today so I can finally get some sport action on and not have to feel constant longing to go to the park but not having the correct accutrements.
I'll be uploading some photos onto here this week so keep reading! Sorry for the short entry but I've got to get home and get changed for the evening's partying.
Ciao for now from Moo Cow
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Señor Moo Cow
Well it's happened, I'm here! This is going to take a while so you might want to get a mug of tea and bring the biscuit barrel over to the PC!
The Cow touched down on Monday afternoon with Mrs Moo in tow to help out and lend monetary assistance. Taxi to the new abode, met landlady. Crazy, old, four foot high, gold teeth, couldn't understand half of what she said through her accent, you know the drill. Confirmed the rent is a mindblowing €150 a month which is just awesome. For those too lazy to check that works out at a ridiculous 100 pounds a month which is what I was paying for the flat in London per week!
The flat is not a hovel as I was dreading, it is actually pretty sweet! 5 minutes from Santander 'town centre', 10 minutes from the uni, 15 minutes from the beaches. That's right: beach plural. Brilliant. Plus sea views and a balcony, combined with a room that's double the size of my rooms in London or Kent. Well done, Señor Moo.
There was one student who had already moved in two weeks before: Finnish bloke called Antti. He's sound as a pound, in addition to being a completely fluent English speaker which is just smashing. He has only been studying Spanish for 1 year but learning fast. Apparently this Saturday we have the third and final addition of the team flying in from Czech Republic or Germany. Watch this space.
The first two days involved sorting out my gear, exploration of the immediate locale of the flat and sampling local cafés. Mother Moo kindly provided financial backing before flying back to Blighty on Tuesday afternoon.
That evening I discovered how cheap the grub is here; €10 for a 3 course meal and half a bottle of wine. It was all edible but I must say I did pick something at random and ended up with pork and chips for main course. Imagine travelling hundreds of miles to a country reknowned for the quality of its alimentation only to be chucked a plate of chips. Not happy. Just as well the rest of it was scrummy or else fracas would have undoubtedly ensued.
Wednesday was my first day at the University of Cantabria! The first of three Orientation days, we had a big presentation in the main hall, a guided tour of campus and got given the usual continual stream of paperwork. Met with all the other Erasmus dudes and dudettes and went on a coach tour of the town/city. Saw the palaces, beaches, had a boat cruise along the coast. I forget how much I adore being on water, living in London does that do you. The subtle back and forth motion of the boat and the rhythmic drone of the engine is so relaxing, combined with the sense of perspective that being so small in comparison to something so huge. Joining the uni sailing class for beginners is an idea on my mind at the moment
Compared to a lot of the Erasmus students my Spanish is pretty good. However, after eight years you would expect it to be, wouldn't you? All, and I really do mean all, of them speak English. Fluently, even the French. Convenient but does make you think about how we (or is it the US?) has 'culturally invaded' the world as a whole. Food for thought.
Aah yes and if it wasn't enough that I work for two French companies in London, now the majority of the social crowd just happen to be French as well. It must be a sign that I shouldn't have given up français at 16 and that I was born to learn it as well as castellano (Spanish). I'm going to give in and just start trying to get involved again.
Before I arrived the weather was terribly dull with rain and the like. In the four days that I've been here it's been nothing but glorious sunshine and clear blue skies. Very welcome and the tan is developing, unfortunately albeit forearms and face. If it is still the same this weekend I'll sort out the rest.
My timetable is already coming into line with the Spanish norm, I'm eating at about 9-10 and then go out at about 10.30-11. Wednesday night we all headed down to one of the main Plazas (public squares surrounding by cafés for those unaware) and had a few beers ouside whilst mingling with the Erasmus exchange crowd. Very interesting situation to have so many cultures and languages exchanged at the same time in such a manner, in addition to everyone trying to make headway with the target language and trying to make friends. Language overload will probably occur in about a fortnight and I will just crave language being effortless and comfortable instead of being at the forefront of my attention all of my waking day.
There is only one other English person in the group, a girl from Birmingham who studies at Nottingham Trent. She is providing a welcome rest from the pressures of having to make myself understood as well as providing me with a comical Brummie accent which cheers me up no end.
Today (Thursday) has consisted of an extended coach trip to Los Picos de Europa, a mountain range on the Cantabria/Asturias border. Beautiful place; despite the fact that I have seen it before during the Sixth Form school trip it is still mesmerising being up there. We proceded to travel around Cantabria stopping at certain villages with nice churches/palaces/general tourist malarkey. Passed some beaches with some pretty decent size waves and there is a lot of talk about some of the blokes that surf teaching the rest of us this weekend. Exciting developments.
That's pretty much it so far. Pretty long entry but I haven't had access to a PC/ any time to myself since being here until now. This has taken ages to write as well so I'm off to have dinner and maybe a beer too.
MC
The Cow touched down on Monday afternoon with Mrs Moo in tow to help out and lend monetary assistance. Taxi to the new abode, met landlady. Crazy, old, four foot high, gold teeth, couldn't understand half of what she said through her accent, you know the drill. Confirmed the rent is a mindblowing €150 a month which is just awesome. For those too lazy to check that works out at a ridiculous 100 pounds a month which is what I was paying for the flat in London per week!
The flat is not a hovel as I was dreading, it is actually pretty sweet! 5 minutes from Santander 'town centre', 10 minutes from the uni, 15 minutes from the beaches. That's right: beach plural. Brilliant. Plus sea views and a balcony, combined with a room that's double the size of my rooms in London or Kent. Well done, Señor Moo.
There was one student who had already moved in two weeks before: Finnish bloke called Antti. He's sound as a pound, in addition to being a completely fluent English speaker which is just smashing. He has only been studying Spanish for 1 year but learning fast. Apparently this Saturday we have the third and final addition of the team flying in from Czech Republic or Germany. Watch this space.
The first two days involved sorting out my gear, exploration of the immediate locale of the flat and sampling local cafés. Mother Moo kindly provided financial backing before flying back to Blighty on Tuesday afternoon.
That evening I discovered how cheap the grub is here; €10 for a 3 course meal and half a bottle of wine. It was all edible but I must say I did pick something at random and ended up with pork and chips for main course. Imagine travelling hundreds of miles to a country reknowned for the quality of its alimentation only to be chucked a plate of chips. Not happy. Just as well the rest of it was scrummy or else fracas would have undoubtedly ensued.
Wednesday was my first day at the University of Cantabria! The first of three Orientation days, we had a big presentation in the main hall, a guided tour of campus and got given the usual continual stream of paperwork. Met with all the other Erasmus dudes and dudettes and went on a coach tour of the town/city. Saw the palaces, beaches, had a boat cruise along the coast. I forget how much I adore being on water, living in London does that do you. The subtle back and forth motion of the boat and the rhythmic drone of the engine is so relaxing, combined with the sense of perspective that being so small in comparison to something so huge. Joining the uni sailing class for beginners is an idea on my mind at the moment
Compared to a lot of the Erasmus students my Spanish is pretty good. However, after eight years you would expect it to be, wouldn't you? All, and I really do mean all, of them speak English. Fluently, even the French. Convenient but does make you think about how we (or is it the US?) has 'culturally invaded' the world as a whole. Food for thought.
Aah yes and if it wasn't enough that I work for two French companies in London, now the majority of the social crowd just happen to be French as well. It must be a sign that I shouldn't have given up français at 16 and that I was born to learn it as well as castellano (Spanish). I'm going to give in and just start trying to get involved again.
Before I arrived the weather was terribly dull with rain and the like. In the four days that I've been here it's been nothing but glorious sunshine and clear blue skies. Very welcome and the tan is developing, unfortunately albeit forearms and face. If it is still the same this weekend I'll sort out the rest.
My timetable is already coming into line with the Spanish norm, I'm eating at about 9-10 and then go out at about 10.30-11. Wednesday night we all headed down to one of the main Plazas (public squares surrounding by cafés for those unaware) and had a few beers ouside whilst mingling with the Erasmus exchange crowd. Very interesting situation to have so many cultures and languages exchanged at the same time in such a manner, in addition to everyone trying to make headway with the target language and trying to make friends. Language overload will probably occur in about a fortnight and I will just crave language being effortless and comfortable instead of being at the forefront of my attention all of my waking day.
There is only one other English person in the group, a girl from Birmingham who studies at Nottingham Trent. She is providing a welcome rest from the pressures of having to make myself understood as well as providing me with a comical Brummie accent which cheers me up no end.
Today (Thursday) has consisted of an extended coach trip to Los Picos de Europa, a mountain range on the Cantabria/Asturias border. Beautiful place; despite the fact that I have seen it before during the Sixth Form school trip it is still mesmerising being up there. We proceded to travel around Cantabria stopping at certain villages with nice churches/palaces/general tourist malarkey. Passed some beaches with some pretty decent size waves and there is a lot of talk about some of the blokes that surf teaching the rest of us this weekend. Exciting developments.
That's pretty much it so far. Pretty long entry but I haven't had access to a PC/ any time to myself since being here until now. This has taken ages to write as well so I'm off to have dinner and maybe a beer too.
MC
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Counting Down... 5 Days
Well the send-off party has been and gone (cheers to my boy in the first picture for hosting a brilliant evening!) and now all that remains to be done before the move is another 3 days of internship and packing. Then next Monday I shall be jetting off to pastures new: luscious, unspoiled and ready for grazing.
It has occurred to me that I haven't explained why in fact I am moving to Santander at all, so I had better give a bit of background:
I'm currently an undergraduate student at the prestigous Imperial College London reading MSci Physics with a Year in Europe. As part of our course we have to spend one year (our third of four) on the EU Erasmus Exchange Program at a partner University. There we will be a normal undergraduate of the institution in question for the academic year.
Orginally I applied to the Universitat de Valencia as the city is Spain's third biggest and the college itself is quite large. However, as fate would have it, I was beaten to the limited places by some eager beavers on my course who achieved better grades than me in my first year. It was news to me that I'd even taken exams in my first year; all I remember is 36 weeks of unadulterated lash, staggering into the lecture hall occasionally for a nap and at the end a really big hall that I was sat in, perfectly silent and majorly hungover. That must have been the exam room in hindsight. Shame I didn't know at the time.
But anyway I had to take my second choice uni, Universidad de Cantabria (in Santander, the regional capital) and work at a 2:1 for that. As noted in an earlier entry, I just scraped the grades in what can be described as an 'efficient performance'. Minimum effort, maximum effect.
So here I am with 5 days till the move having to face going to an office in the City that is so well air-conditioned it would be more accurate to describe it as 'refridgerated'. During the heatwave in August I had to bring a jumper in to work with me for the office, much to the amusement of my flatmates.
Packing is going to be an interesting affair; I have only 40 kgs in two suitcases for all my worldly goods. Sorting out my clothes last night lend me to the discovery that about 60% of my apparell is sportswear, leading me to the conclusion that my university moniker of 'that Chav' is actually quite accurate.
x x x MC
It has occurred to me that I haven't explained why in fact I am moving to Santander at all, so I had better give a bit of background:
I'm currently an undergraduate student at the prestigous Imperial College London reading MSci Physics with a Year in Europe. As part of our course we have to spend one year (our third of four) on the EU Erasmus Exchange Program at a partner University. There we will be a normal undergraduate of the institution in question for the academic year.
Orginally I applied to the Universitat de Valencia as the city is Spain's third biggest and the college itself is quite large. However, as fate would have it, I was beaten to the limited places by some eager beavers on my course who achieved better grades than me in my first year. It was news to me that I'd even taken exams in my first year; all I remember is 36 weeks of unadulterated lash, staggering into the lecture hall occasionally for a nap and at the end a really big hall that I was sat in, perfectly silent and majorly hungover. That must have been the exam room in hindsight. Shame I didn't know at the time.
But anyway I had to take my second choice uni, Universidad de Cantabria (in Santander, the regional capital) and work at a 2:1 for that. As noted in an earlier entry, I just scraped the grades in what can be described as an 'efficient performance'. Minimum effort, maximum effect.
So here I am with 5 days till the move having to face going to an office in the City that is so well air-conditioned it would be more accurate to describe it as 'refridgerated'. During the heatwave in August I had to bring a jumper in to work with me for the office, much to the amusement of my flatmates.
Packing is going to be an interesting affair; I have only 40 kgs in two suitcases for all my worldly goods. Sorting out my clothes last night lend me to the discovery that about 60% of my apparell is sportswear, leading me to the conclusion that my university moniker of 'that Chav' is actually quite accurate.
x x x MC
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Swedish Beauty
By the way, how amazing is the Koenigsegg CC range of cars? Pure Swedish genius. Anyone that wants to buy me one for Christmas is very welcome.
Counting Down... 11 Days
Well the summer is nearly over for me: eleven days left in London! Goodbye 7am starts! Goodbye London AKA the Big Smoke! Hello Spain, the beach, the lash, Kalimotxo, weekend trips around Europe, merely 2 lecture courses a week and more importantly, learning how to business the Continent.
Considering that I have such a short amount of time before jetting off, I am quite surprised by my lack of organisation, planning or any cares at all. I am, at best, a plan-aholic and yet despite being on the verdge of moving abroad with nowhere to live, I am remarkably calm about the whole affair. To describe it as ambivalence (which is how I should probably be feeling) would be incorrect. It is pure indifference. The idea of packing a suitcase last minute and staying in a BnB is swiftly turning into the most probable scenario and this does not phase me in the slightest. For now, anyway!
This weekend will see the leaving party for a certain udder-baring ruminent. To say it is going to be an absolutely legendary send-off is not doing justice to how excited I am about it. If you're not coming... chin up!
MC
Considering that I have such a short amount of time before jetting off, I am quite surprised by my lack of organisation, planning or any cares at all. I am, at best, a plan-aholic and yet despite being on the verdge of moving abroad with nowhere to live, I am remarkably calm about the whole affair. To describe it as ambivalence (which is how I should probably be feeling) would be incorrect. It is pure indifference. The idea of packing a suitcase last minute and staying in a BnB is swiftly turning into the most probable scenario and this does not phase me in the slightest. For now, anyway!
This weekend will see the leaving party for a certain udder-baring ruminent. To say it is going to be an absolutely legendary send-off is not doing justice to how excited I am about it. If you're not coming... chin up!
MC
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